You can't even beat me, Hikaru!

'Is that true? Will I ever be able to beat you, Sai?' Hikaru stared at the glowing white stone his opponent had just placed, how its glow spread and connected to the rest of the stones. He had missed it again. Whenever he had thought he had foreseen every single possibility, the corner of Sai's mouth would curve up slightly, and then he would point his fan at a place Hikaru had failed to notice. Every single time.

'Is there a way I can turn this around?' Hikaru frantically searched, eyes studying every intersections of the board. His palms started to sweat.

His head dropped after the hopeless attempt, bleached bangs covering his eyes. "You're right, Sai. I can't even beat you," he whispered, shaking.

"Shindou?" Isumi asked with concern. Hikaru then raised his head slowly, staring at the goban on the monitor. It was clear that his face was wet from tears. 'So that was why you left me, because I'm not worthy to be your opponent.'

*Beep* An alert dialog popped up. It read: Hikaru has resigned.

Without making eye contact with anyone, Hikaru hurried out the door, totally forgetting his backpack.

"Shindou, wait up!" Waya called, grabbing his friend's backpack on the way out.

"Shindou!" Waya ran after his friend on a busy street, but Hikaru didn't stop. He figured that Waya would probably bombard him with questions about Sai. He was not in the mood to explain the whole Sai thing. Currently, what occupied his mind was the thought of why Sai had left him 'Sai left because I was not strong enough. He left to find someone worthy.' This thought alone caused his heart to ache.

"Shindou! Your backpack!" Hikaru then realized that he had left his backpack at Waya's place. When Waya saw that he had finally stopped running, he slowly walked toward his standing friend.

Waya handed the yellow bag to Hikaru. He took it after pausing for a moment. "Thanks."

"I don't know what the relationship between you and Sai is, but I won't make you tell me," Waya told his friend, whose face was mostly hidden by his hair. "Just let me know when you want to talk about it, alright?"

With this said, Waya put a comforting hand on Hikaru's shoulder. Hikaru slowly raised his head, his reddened eyes meeting his friend's concerning eyes. A weak smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Waya."

Face up, lying on his bed, Hikaru placed both his hands behind his head as he replayed the game mentally. At the beginning of the game, it started off like Tutoring Go. However, when Sai realized that Hikaru had improved and was playing seriously, it seemed like he couldn't bare with the thought of losing, and just like the old Sai, he cut Hikaru in half right away. Hikaru smiled at the thought bitterly. 'If it weren't Sai, he wouldn't have started off with Tutoring Go with me. It was definitely Sai.'

Hikaru studied his right palm, imagining the red circle that represented victory stamped permanently onto it. "If you left me because I sucked," Hikaru closed his hand into a fist quickly, as if grabbing onto the circle. "Then I'll prove you wrong! I'll beat you someday, Sai! I'll show you!" He vowed.

----------Somewhere in Canada----------

"Jo? You aren't sleeping, are you?" Bruce asked his friend on the other end of the line, leaning back on his computer chair. "There was someone claiming to be Sai on the Internet. It was an amazing game he played."

----------Somewhere in Australia----------

"Hmm? No, I'm not sure. I've never seen Sai played before, but that game I just saw was definitely between two pros," Trevor told his Go buddy.

----------Somewhere in China----------

"Did you just say Sai?" Touya Koyo turned around from his game, his attention caught by the sound of the name. A young Chinese pro just came from his room, and was now telling his friends about the Internet game he just saw.

"You know about Sai too, Touya Sensei?" The young pro asked.

"Of course he does, Yang Hai," Li Sensei, who was playing against Touya Sensei, said. "The game between Touya Sensei and Sai was the game of the century, didn't you know?"

"Oh! That's right! How could I have forgotten!" Yang Hai smacked his forehead, as if he had just forgotten something as important as his own name. "Do you know who he is, Touya Sensei?"

"Regrettably, I don't," Touya told the pro. "What were you saying about Sai?"

"He has returned!" Yang Hai cheered. "I just watched two games of his just now! They were amazing, especially that last one. His opponent was definitely a pro."

"A pro?" Touya said thoughtfully. "What's his name?"

"Hikaru," Yang Hai put his hand on his chin, wondering. "I wonder if it was Shindou."

Touya Koyo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"This Sai is so mysterious," Yang Hai commented. "So many people have played him and he's never lost, but no one knows who he is. I wonder if anyone has even seen his face before!"

"It seems like he only plays on the Internet," Touya responded, recalling that time at the hospital. Hikaru had begged him to play his friend, Sai. He had almost refused, because he felt that the request of a serious game on the Internet was absurd. He was glad that he had accepted in the end. It had been the game of a lifetime.

"Ya, like a ghost that wanders on the Internet," the pro smiled at the amusing thought.

"Are you going to play Sai again, Touya Sensei?" Li Sensei asked hopefully. "It'd be a blessing to the Go World if you could."

"I'd very much love to."


A/N: Yang Hai was Isumi's roommate when he was in China, just in case you forgot. Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! Any ideas on how this should work out? I have a few, but I am still trying to decide. Touya Akira appears next!